15 Brands Like Betabrand for Versatile Workwear Styles
Four o'clock on a Thursday, and your waistband has been ruining the afternoon since lunch. Betabrand built a business on that exact complaint. Its Dress Pant Yoga Pant ($88) pulls on like leggings and still reads as office trousers, and the collection now runs to 75 styles in petite, regular and long inseams. One brand can't cover every budget or every body, though. Here are 15 more brands making clothes you can sit in for nine hours without negotiating with a zip.
A note on what "workwear" means here. This list is office clothing built for comfort, not the canvas-and-rivets kind, which we cover separately in workwear brands like Dickies. Every price below is the full regular price, checked on the brand's own site. Several of these stores are discounting hard as we write, so the number on the page may be lower than the one here. Where a site turns away scripted visitors, we've put the tier in words rather than guess.
Quick comparison:
- Closest to the Dress Pant Yoga Pant: Ministry of Supply, M.M.LaFleur and Athleta, all three of which put a wrinkle-resistance or machine-washability claim in writing on the product page.
- Cheapest way in: Uniqlo from $39.90 and Quince from $44.90.
- Same money as a DPYP: Everlane's Dream Pant at $88.
- Most premium: Argent from $225, Cuyana to $568, plus Lululemon, whose site we couldn't price.
- Specialist picks: Encircled for sweatpants cut like trousers, Argent for pockets, Banana Republic and Athleta for trying the waistband in a shop.
| Brand | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Supply | $178 to $228 on women's bottoms | Machine-washable tailoring |
| M.M.LaFleur | $199 to $369 on pants | The closest thing to a DPYP in a suit |
| Lululemon | Premium | Fabric feel above all |
| Everlane | $88 to $148 on women's trousers | Plain trousers, plain pricing |
| Quince | $44.90 to $99.90 on women's pants | Stretch silk at high-street money |
| Uniqlo | $39.90 to $59.90 on women's pants | Buying three pairs at once |
| Athleta | $99 to $109 on the Brooklyn line | Wrinkle resistance you can pack |
| Encircled | $148 to $204 on bottoms | Sweatpants that pass as trousers |
| Mango | Mid-range | Trend-led office dressing |
| Banana Republic | $110 to $200 on women's pants | Trying the fit in a shop first |
| LOFT | Mid-range | Softer, friendlier office clothes |
| Argent | $225 to $395 on pants | Real pockets in real tailoring |
| Cuyana | $78 to $568 on clothing | Wool and silk over stretch |
| Madewell | $98 to $148 on women's pants | Business-casual that reads weekend |
| J.Crew | $98 to $168 on US women's pants | Classic cuts with some give |
Ministry of Supply
Ministry of Supply is the brand that took Betabrand's premise and put an engineering department behind it. The Women's Velocity Straight Leg Pant ($228) is the direct comparison, and the brand's own description of it does the arguing: "resilient stretch fabric that retains its crisp lines, a soft-yet-strong fiber that's machine washable and wrinkle-free, and an airy cut built for immense pull-on comfort."
Women's bottoms run $178 to $228, so you're paying roughly double a DPYP. What that buys is fabric development. The company started at MIT in 2012 and its homepage claims 72 fabric patents and a 4.8 out of 5 rating across more than 47,000 reviews. Menswear is the deeper half of the range, with the Kinetic Pant at $178 and the Velocity Dress Pant at $248. We've written up its closest rivals in brands like Ministry of Supply.
Best for: one pair of trousers that survives a flight, a client meeting and a wash cycle.
M.M.LaFleur
M.M.LaFleur sells the idea Betabrand sells, with the volume turned up on tailoring. The Zhou Culotte in Eco Soft Wave ($269) is the piece that makes the comparison, and the brand's own copy lists what the fabric does: "machine-washability, wrinkle-resistance, odor-resistance, and a substantial feel." That fabric now carries 35% recycled polyester, and sizing runs 00 to 20.
The Lowen Jetset Pant ($299) is the tapered alternative, cut with pintuck front seams and described as "made for travel, ideal for every day." Pants across the collection sit at $199 to $369, and the filters on that page are Machine-Washable, High Stretch and Wrinkle Resistant, which tells you what the brand thinks it's competing on. That's roughly three times a DPYP, and the size run is the widest we checked on this list.
Best for: the reader who wants Betabrand's comfort inside something that photographs as a suit.
Lululemon
Lululemon reaches this list through its commuter lines rather than its yoga ones. The ABC and City Sleek families are the ones cut as trousers, using the same technical fabrics that made the leggings famous, which is why they hold their shape through a day at a desk instead of bagging at the knee.
Lululemon's site turns away scripted visitors, so we've left prices out instead of repeating figures we can't check on the page. What we can say is that it sits at the premium end of everything here, above Ministry of Supply on fabric hand and well above Betabrand on price per pair. If you want the head-to-head, we've run one in Ministry of Supply vs. Lululemon.
Best for: buying two pairs and wearing them everywhere, including outside the office.
Everlane
Everlane's answer to the Dress Pant Yoga Pant is the Dream Pant, and it lists at $88, the same as a Classic DPYP. That's a straight substitution at the same money, with a plainer, less pocket-heavy design. The Utility Barrel Pant ($118) and the Everywhere Pant ($128) cover the roomier cuts, and the Everywhere Pant in Stretch Linen goes to $148.
One warning about shopping this page. Everlane is running deep markdowns as we write, and the Dream Pant appears at $26 to $31 in several colours against that $88 regular price. Buying at $26 gets you a good deal. Budgeting as though $26 were the standing price is how you end up disappointed next season. We look at where else the brand's shoppers go in brands like Everlane.
Best for: swapping one DPYP for one Dream Pant without changing your budget.
Quince
Quince is the cheapest credible route to a stretch work trouser. The Ultra-Form High-Rise Wide Leg Pants ($44.90) are 78% nylon and 22% spandex, which is close to legging fabric in a wide-leg cut, and they hold 4.7 stars across 90 reviews in sizes XS to XL.
The piece that makes the brand worth the section is the Washable Stretch Silk Palazzo Pants ($99.90), 90% mulberry silk with 10% spandex, rated 4.7 across 791 reviews. Machine-washable silk at under $100 is the kind of thing Betabrand shoppers tend to want and rarely find. Read the struck-through numbers on Quince carefully, though. The higher figure is labelled "Traditional retail" and is the brand's comparison against department-store pricing, not a sale on its own product. Returns run 365 days. More on how it stacks up in brands like Quince.
Best for: silk you can put in the machine, at half what that usually costs.
Uniqlo
Uniqlo is where you buy three pairs for less than one DPYP. Women's pants run $39.90 to $59.90, and the product names do the explaining: Jersey Easy Work Pants ($49.90), Washable Knit Pants ($39.90), Smart Wide Straight Pants ($49.90) and Stretch Easy Ankle Pants ($49.90).
The trade is design specificity. Betabrand engineers around one problem and charges for it. Uniqlo makes a good, plain version of the same trouser and prices it for volume, so the cut is more conservative and the fabric story is thinner. For a work wardrobe you'll wear to destruction and replace without flinching, that maths works. We go wider on the brand in brands like Uniqlo.
Best for: stocking a full week of work trousers under $250.
Athleta
Athleta comes at office trousers from the activewear side, and the Brooklyn line is the part that lands. The Brooklyn Mid Rise Ankle Pant ($99) and the Brooklyn Mid Rise Wide Leg Pant ($109) are described on Athleta's own pages as "wrinkle-resistant, stretch fabric in a tailored fit," which is the Betabrand pitch in different words.
The Brooklyn Piping Ankle Pant lists at $109 and is marked to $84.99 as we write, so the line discounts often enough to be worth waiting for. Being part of Gap means physical shops, which matters more than it sounds. Pull-on trousers live or die on the waistband, and trying one on beats reading a size chart.
Best for: packing a suitcase and unpacking trousers you can wear straight to a meeting.
Encircled
Encircled makes the joke Betabrand made, from the other direction. Where the DPYP is a trouser with yoga-pant stretch, the Dressy Sweatpant ($176) is a sweatpant cut and finished to pass in an office. The Wanderer Pant ($204) and the Dressy Wide Leg Crop Pant ($161) fill out a bottoms range that runs $148 to $204.
Two practical details. The clothes are made in Canada, and the brand's own product pages state that orders ship from Buffalo, New York, tariff and duty-free, so US buyers aren't paying a border premium. The live site is encircled.co, not the .com, which returns an error. Prices display in USD on the product pages.
Best for: video-call days that turn into in-person ones without a change of clothes.
Mango
Mango is the fashion-led option on this list rather than the engineered one. Its work range covers blazers and tailored trousers in the shapes that are current this season, at mid-range high-street pricing, which makes it the place to go when your office dresses up rather than down.
Being straight about the fit here: Mango sells you a silhouette, not a fabric technology. No wrinkle-resistance claim or pull-on comfort story is attached to its trousers, which is the opposite of how Ministry of Supply sells. Mango's site blocks scripted visitors, so we haven't published prices we couldn't confirm on the page. We cover the brand's nearest alternatives in brands like Mango.
Best for: the trend-forward end of your work wardrobe, on a mid-range budget.
Banana Republic
Banana Republic's Traveler line is its answer to the comfort question, and the Slim Traveler Pant ($120) is the piece to start with. The High-Rise Slim Drapey Ponte Pull-On Pant ($120) is the closer analogue if pull-on is the feature you came for, and the Slim Italian-Stretch Chino ($100) is the cheapest way in.
Women's pants sit at $110 to $200 at full price, topping out with the Ultra High-Rise Modern Slim Italian Lightweight Wool Ankle Pant ($198). Discounting is constant and steep. That Slim Traveler Pant is marked to $54.97 as we write against its $120 list, so timing changes what this brand costs you by more than half.
Best for: shoppers who want to check the waistband in a changing room before committing.
LOFT
LOFT is the softest-edged brand here, selling office clothes that lean approachable instead of sharp. Blouses, pull-on trousers and cardigans do the work, and the house cut is roomier and less structured than Banana Republic's, which suits a business-casual dress code better than a boardroom one.
LOFT's storefront sits behind a bot filter that blocks automated requests, so we haven't quoted prices. In tier terms it's mid-market and sits below Banana Republic, close to where Betabrand's own range starts.
Best for: an office where jackets went out years ago and the trousers still have to look intentional.
Argent
Argent puts its whole argument in one line of its own site copy: "fashion-forward pants with pockets shouldn't be revolutionary." The Straight Leg Trouser in Seasonless Wool ($275) is the entry point, with the Cropped Straight Leg ($295) and the Single Pleat Trouser ($350) above it, across a pants range of $225 to $395 and 113 styles.
This is the tailored end rather than the technical one. Argent's fabric story is Italian seasonless wool and viscose linen, so you're buying drape and construction instead of stretch and machine-washability. Sizing runs 0 to 14, which is narrower than M.M.LaFleur's 00 to 20. If the pocket problem is what sends you to Betabrand in the first place, this is the brand that took it most seriously at the premium end.
Best for: proper tailoring that still holds a phone in the front pocket.
Cuyana
Cuyana runs on "fewer, better things," and its clothing edit is deliberately small, with nothing in it discounted. The Wool Wide Leg Pant ($368) and the Silk Pleated Pant ($368) are the trousers, the Wool Cinched Blazer ($498) is the jacket, and the Stretch Long Sleeve Tee ($78) is the one piece with give in it.
Clothing spans $78 to $568, and the material list is wool, silk, cashmere, alpaca and leather. That places Cuyana at the opposite pole from Betabrand. No performance-fabric claim exists to compare, and most of the range is dry-clean territory instead of machine-wash. Worth knowing before you click: the old cuyana.com/shop/ links are dead, and the live catalogue sits under /collections/.
Best for: replacing five polyester trousers with one wool pair you keep for years.
Madewell
Madewell sits where business-casual meets weekend, with 35 styles in its women's pants range at $98 to $148. The Devon Pant ($98) and the Everyday Trouser in Poplin ($98) are the office-leaning pair, the Emmy Wide-Leg Pant ($128) is the one most people buy, and the Baggy Cargo Pant ($148) is the most relaxed thing that still counts.
Several styles in the range are cut as pull-ons, which is the feature that puts Madewell on this list at all. What you don't get is a technical fabric claim, so if wrinkle resistance on a long commute is the whole reason you shop Betabrand, look at Athleta or Ministry of Supply first.
Best for: a dress code loose enough that denim would pass but you'd rather it didn't.
J.Crew
J.Crew keeps 91 styles in its US women's pants category at $98 to $168, and the one to look at is the Natalia pant in four-season stretch ($158). Four-season stretch is the closest J.Crew gets to Betabrand's territory, and it's the fabric that makes a classic cut wearable through a full day.
The Boy chino ($138) is the roomier everyday option, the Luna pant in cotton poplin runs $98 to $148, and the Cosmo pant in luster charmeuse tops out at $168. One navigation note that costs people money: jcrew.com without a country path serves the UK site in pounds. Use the /us/ path to see dollar pricing.
Best for: classic office trousers with enough give that you forget you're wearing them.
How to Choose the Right Pair for Your Week
Start with the thing that annoys you most. If it's the waistband, buy pull-on: the Ponte Pull-On Pant at Banana Republic ($120) or Everlane's Dream Pant ($88) solve it for under $130. If it's arriving creased, wrinkle resistance is a fabric claim you can check, and Athleta's Brooklyn line ($99) and Ministry of Supply's Velocity ($228) both make it in writing. If it's pockets, Argent built a brand on them.
Budget sorts the rest quickly. Uniqlo and Quince both start under $50 a pair. Around $100 to $130 is Everlane, Athleta and Banana Republic. Past $200 you're at M.M.LaFleur, Argent and Cuyana, where the money goes into fabric and finishing instead of features. And check the regular price before you celebrate a discount, because half this list is on sale at any given moment. If you want more routes through the same problem, our articles archive has the rest.
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Written by
Spencer Lanoue
